Box



June 23, 1931 c 13, KNQWLTON 1,811,135

BOX

Filed Feb. 25, 1926 1y secured to the ,outer surfaces of the corner- Patented June 23,, 1931- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" SPRAGUE CORPORATION, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA- CHUSETTS BOX Application filed February 25, 1926. Serial No. 90,569.

The present invention relates to boxes of the set-up or wall type, and particularly con-- cerns those boxes including in their structure a double wall.

In a well-known form of box, in which the walls are permanently secured in normal relation, for example those in which shoes are packed for the retail trade, the end walls are made up of an inner layer furnished by corner-laps formed upon the side edges of side wings, and an outer layer consisting of an end wing adhesively secured to the outer faces of the corner-laps. There may thus be provided a'wall which is of doublethickness, save along a narrow vertical line where the corner-laps meet. In the setting-up of the box, especially in applying the usual coverpaper to the box-shell, the warping effect produced by the drying of the adhesive throws such strains upon the outer layers of the end walls that they tend to be drawn inward at the centers, causing the weaker portions between the edges of the corner-lapsto protrude in a more or less-unsightly ridge. In addition to this objection to the structure, the weakness along the line of the single layer renders the end walls liable to be broken in shaping and handling. Shoe-car,- tons are peculiarly subject to injury, because of the fact that they are often pulled from shelves by the centers of the ends. An object of this invention is to provide such a box-structure that the stresses which are applied both in manufacture and use of the box in which side wings extending from the box-body carry corner-laps having -co-operating serrations intermeshing with corresponding serrations upon opposite cornerlaps. End wings upon the body are adhesivelaps, while end-wing extensions overlie the outer ends of the meeting lines between the serrations and are adhesively secured to the inner surfaces of the corner-laps. Coven paper is adhesively secured to the shell-material, of the box while'it is in blank-form and extends across the end wings and said end wings extend in theset-up box over the meeting lines of the serrated corner-laps. This paper entirely covers the outside of the box. Itwill be seen that the line between the serrations has no vertical continuity and no considerable. length in any direction, it passing from side to side over a substantial area of the outer layer of the wall. The resistance offered by this construction along any line is sufficient to prevent warping or breaking under the influence of forces ordinarily encountered, and thus avoids the consequent deformation or rupture of the cover-paper. The presence of the co-operating projections facilitates ratherthan interferes with the usual production methods. When, in-the-setting-up of the box, these projections encounter the depressions of the co-operating fportion, their contact exercises a guiding effect, and the two wall elements are brought into mesh without interference. To avoid the formation of an unduly sharp andreadily breakable pointat an outside serration, which is divided at the apex to give the straight top greater than the angle of said point before such removal.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 illustrates, in perspective, a particular embodiment of the blank utilized in this invention; .1

Fig. 2 shows, in partial perspective, my improved box in the process of formation from such a blank; and

Fig. 3 is a full perspective completed box.

There isshown in Fig. 1 ablank b, which may be formed from some suchwmaterial as cardboard, furnishing the shell-material, and which may have adhesively attached to one or both sides a covering or lining of paper or the like to give the desired finish. This coveriug I have not illustrated. The blank comprises a body-portion 10, which, as herein disview of the' closed, is rectangular in outline. Extending from the longer edges of the body are opposite side wings 12, 12, while attached to the shorter edges of the body are end wings 14, 14. The j unctures of the body and the wings are creased or scored at 16 to facilitate bending along these lines when a box is produced from the blank. Extending from the side edges of the side Wings, With interposed creases 18, are corner-laps 20. These lie along the sides of the end wings, being separated therefrom by slots 22. The opposite edge of each corner-lap is also cut away at 24 upon a line parallel to the outer edge of the side wing, this being for a purpose which will later appear. The outer end of each corner-lap is provided with a series of alternate projections 26 and depressions 28, preferably in the form of regular serrations, each of which may have substantially the shape of an equilateral triangle. The edges of the serrations converging to the outer points are therefore separated from each other by approximately sixty degrees. The projections upon one of the corner-laps at each extremity of the blank are complete throughout the series, while the marginal projections of each corner-lap at the opposite side of the adjacent end wings are divided near their centers by the side edges of the laps, so they consist substantially of half-serrations. This would cause the apices of the marginal serrations of these last-mentioned laps to have angles of thirty degrees, were it not for-the fact that each has cut away'from its side toward the outer edge of the lap a short incline 30, which increases each apex to sixty degrees, or about that of the companion projections. Though, of course, other contours may be employed,

this form of projection is chosen because the angle gives a sufficient width of the shellmaterial with a relatively blunt end to resist mutilation in the handling of the blanks and in the operations upon them. A further ad vantage will appear when making of the boxis described.

While such a feature is not essential to the invention, I prefer to have upon the outer extremities of the end wings, and divided therefrom by creases 82, relatively narrow extensions 34. The length of the end wings between the creases 16 and 32 is approximately the same as the width of the corner-laps parallel to the series of serrations, while the length of the corner-laps from the crease 18 to the pitch-line of the serrations is substantially half the width of the body 10.

The blank I) may be given the shape of the box B manually, by automatic machines, or by simpler mechanisms in connection with which manual operations are performed. The order in which the forming steps are taken may also vary. A suitable procedure is as follows: The side wings are bent along the crease-lines 16 at right angles to the body 10.

Then the corner-laps 20 are turned in to the same plane, so that the serrations intermesh, with the opposed edges upon the respective laps lying in substantial contact to give an almost unbroken layer of an end wall. As this last step is taken, and as may easily be appreciated upon inspection of Fig. 2 of the drawings, the edges of the serrations, as they approach the common plane, contact with those of the opposite serrations. Consequently, if there is any lack of perfect registration between the projections and depressions, this engagement will direct them into mesh. An adhesive having been applied to either the outer faces of the corner-laps or the inner faces of the end Wings 14, the latter are turned parallel to the corner-laps, and the elements pressed together to effect their union. This gives the second or outer layer of the end walls. In adhesively attaching the serrations of the corner-laps to the end wings, the resistance to separation of these secured surfaces should be at least as great as the resistance of the serrations to breaking across their bases. The desired end is attained by the sixty-degree formation herein disclosed. Finally, the extensions 34 are turned in and adhesively secured to the inner faces of the corner-laps. This furnishes at the top of the box, which is subjected to the greatest strain, a triple thickness, and at the same time conceals the unfinished edges of the corner-laps and the meeting lines between them, including the cut-away point of the marginal projection at 30. Except for this, the full upper serration of one corner-lap and the opposite half-serration of the associated lap meet to give an unbroken top line at the recessed edges 24. Intothe resulting recess at the top of the inner end-wall layer fitsthe bent-over portion of the extension 34, providing a box, the top of which lies throughout in a single plane.

Considering the meeting line between the serrations, it will be seen that at no portion is there a single or unstayed layer of an end wall extending for more than a short distance in one direction. The greatest is the length of the edge of a single serration, and this lies at a considerable angle to the vertical dimension of the wall. It is along such a vertical line that the maximum stresses fall, both in making, under the influence of the covering produced by the drying of the adhesive, and in handling. In vertical lines, the breaks in the double wall exist only at points separated by portions of the'serrations, and are of almost negligible width. As a result of this relation, the end walls are made highly re sistive to deformation and breakage, and this without materially increasing the cost of production.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A box comprising shell-material having a body-portion, opposite side wings, comerlaps extending from the opposite sides of the side wings and provided at their outer extremities with serrations intermeshing with corresponding serrations upon opposite corner-laps, end wings adhesively secured to the outer surfaces of-the corner-laps, and endwing extensions overlying the outer ends of the meeting lines between the serrations and being adhesively secured to the inner surfaces of the comer-laps, said box whilein blank-form having cover-paper adhesively secured to the entire surface-which furnishes the outside of the box when set up.

2. A box comprising a body, side wings, and corner-laps extending from the side wings and provided with intermeshing projections having edges converging outwardly to a point, an outer projection upon one of the portions being divided near its apex by the edge of said portion and the point at this division being removed by a line of cut producing an an le with the side of the projection at which said line of cut terminates thatis substantially greater than the angle of said oint before such removal. 4

3. A ox comprising a body, side wings, corner-laps extending from the side wings and provided with intermeshing projections having edges converging qutwardlly to a point, an outer projection upon one of t e portions being divided near its apex b the edge of said portion and the point at t 's division being removed b a line of cut producing an angle with the side of the projection at which said line of cut terminates that is substantially greater than the angle of said point before such remogal, and end wings extending irom the body-pioition and being adhesively secured t6 the outside of the corner-laps, said end win .outer en s of the meeting lines between the serrations and having extensions adhesively secured to the inside of the corner-laps.

' In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

CUTLER D. KNOWLTON.

having extensions overlying the 

